


Things Left Unsaid

by JayJayNiichan



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, LETS MAKE THE ITALY BROS FIGHT!, i still cant tag things oops im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:18:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7499127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayJayNiichan/pseuds/JayJayNiichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a week before the Italian brothers, Feliciano and Lovino, celebrate their birthday. But what happens when a fight breaks loose in the Vargas household and bottled up feelings come pouring out? Will they be able to make up in time for their party?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Harsh Words

Italy and Romano sat in the living room of their shared house in Rome. Their plan was to spend the week before their birthday together so maybe Romano wouldn't be ready to beat Veneziano with a ten-foot stick by the time the party rolled around. The duo usually planned their own birthday party and only invited who they wanted to come. In the end, it never turned out to be very many people but it never really mattered.

"Fratello!" Italy whined slightly, "I'm starting to get hungry!"

"Then get off your ass and start supper you lazy bastard!" Romano hissed.

"Okay!" Italy sprang to his feet, his former attitude gone, as if it had never existed.

Romano grumbled and returned his attention to the television set, they had been watching a soccer game and Romano had really been getting into it. Italy sighed upon reaching the kitchen, knowing his brother wouldn't be able to hear him. He had often been yelled at like that by his own brother. He always thought that's just how Romano was, after all, most people treated him like a useless country, so why should his brother be any different? Veneziano shook these thoughts from his head as he walked over to the stove and quickly busied himself with making dinner for the both of them.

As soon as Italy had finished preparing the meal and setting the table by himself, he called Romano in for dinner, who quickly arrived at the table and waited for Feliciano to sit down so they could say grace. Once that task was out of the way, they both began eating their meal. Feliciano ate rather calmly, in fact, he seemed to play with his food more than actually eat any of it. Romano noticed this and lifted his head slightly, watching Italy for several minutes before deciding to comment.

"Are you actually going to eat any of this or are you just going to sit there and stare at it all night?" Romano asked, curiosity in his voice.

Italy simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to twirl the pasta noodles around his fork, staring at his meal intently as if when he looked away it would vanish right from under his nose. Romano let this go on a while longer before finally standing up and shoving his chair out of the way, walking right up to Feliciano.

"Veneziano you're my own brother you think I can't tell when something is bothering you, damn it?!" Romano practically screamed in Italy's face. But the younger of the duo simply sat there, throwing Lovino off guard. Feliciano usually cowered when anyone yelled at him, especially Romano, so why wasn't he doing so now?

"Answer me, Fratello!" Romano screamed again, taking a small hold of Italy's shirt.

Italy looked up at him, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes. "You've never cared about whenever I was upset before, what makes this time different?"

Romano was taken aback by his comment, and the look on his face proved it. "You really think I don't care whenever you get upset? You moron! I'm your brother!"

Italy almost laughed. "You may be my brother, but tell me, why do you insult me the most? Only coming in second after Germany. He's the only person you seem to insult more than me. Do you hate me? Was it something I did? Are you mad that Germany is my best friend and that we always spend time together? Tell me what I'm doing wrong!" Italy was on his feet now, shooting a piercing glare right at Romano.

Lovino stood there in complete shock, letting his hand fall back to his side. It was only moments however before his blood boiled and his anger returned.

"Why do I insult you the most? I don't know what made Grandpa like you more? What is it that makes everyone like you more? Oh! I know! You're better at me than at everything you do! You might as well be considered better at me than breathing at this point! All my life I've heard 'Oh Veneziano is so cute!' or 'Veneziano is so talented! Why can't you draw like him?'" Romano panted, raising a menacing finger to point at his brother, "All my life I've been known as the screw-up and compared to you with everything!"

Veneziano was close to tears at this point. "Fine then! If I'm such a burden to you and your life! I'll just go then!" He sobbed, dashing for the door as fast as he could.

Romano stood there a minute, glaring holes through the door. He stayed there for what felt like hours before looking at the table and flipping it on its side, watching as all the food toppled over and the dishes shattered against the ground. He stood there breathing heavily for a moment before collapsing to the ground sobbing. Letting all his emotions out as he did. Once he had finally composed himself, he walked over to the phone hanging on a nearby wall and picked it up, calling the only person he thought he could.

"Hey, you jerk bastard. I'm staying over at your house for a while. No questions asked." With that, he hung up the phone and went upstairs to get his things.

* * *

Feliciano ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the only person he knew would help him, sobbing as he went. He wiped his eyes, walking up to Germany's front door. The Italian swallowed hard before knocking on the door. Barely a minute had passed before Germany opened his door and invited him in, seeing his tear-stained face.

After helping the small Italian calm down, Germany finally decided to ask what he was doing here.

Italy sniffed. "Romano and I got in a fight. A big fight. And I ran away."

Germany sighed. "You may stay here as long as necessary for you two to resolve the issue."

Italy smiled wide at his friend and hugged him.

That night the Italian brother lay asleep, miles away from each other and thinking about the things they had said.


	2. Good Morning Romano

Romano slowly opened his eyes the next morning. He had arrived at Antonio's house late last night and, after declaring he wasn't hungry, went straight to bed before Spain could even ask what had happened that Romano would come to stay with him. He groaned as the sunlight poured in through one of the nearby windows, illuminating the whole room. After spending another few minutes trying, and failing miserably, to return to his precious sleep, Romano pulled himself into an upright position on the bed before throwing the blanket off of his body and trudging to the nearby closet.

Romano often kept clothes here for situations such as this where he needed to be away from his house of his own accord. He threw the closet doors open and looked over the clothes inside before deciding on a pair of brown slacks and a loose white shirt. He closed the door once more and ran his fingers through his hair before heading downstairs.

The moment Romano stepped out of his room, the smell of breakfast wafted through the entire house. The Italian inhaled deeply before continuing his journey downstairs. Upon reaching the kitchen he grabbed a mug and poured himself some coffee, ignoring the Spaniard.

Spain smiled and turned towards the other man. "Good morning Roma! How did you sleep?" He asked, his usual cheery smile plastered on his face.

Romano scowled, setting the mug back down on the counter. "I slept fine you stupid jerk."

Spain smiled softly, taking a pan off the stove. "Breakfast is almost done. I made churros!"

Romano scowled but couldn't deny the fact to himself, he missed eating Spain's churros sometimes. Nobody made them as good as Antonio. Romano had tried on several occasions, but they still weren't as good. The duo walked over to the table and sat down, enjoying their meal and coffee. They made small talk about various things. It was only about twenty minutes into their meal that Spain decided to bring up the topic of why Romano had shown up at his house last night.

"Um Roma, why did you show up here last night?" Spain asked, letting the silence filled the room.

Romano sighed loudly. "I thought this was going to be a no questions asked deal you jerk bastard!"

Spain raised his hands in defense, hoping Romano wouldn't hit him. "I know I know! I just wanted to help you. You seemed rather distraught last night when you showed up. Is everything okay between you and little Feli?"

Romano scowled. "Does everything have to be about my brother?! He already gets all of the attention to begin with!"

Spain frowned. "Oh, Lovi is that what this is all about? We've talked about this. Just because Feliciano is good at something does not mean that you aren't good at it. Everyone has their own set of talents. It does you no good to compare yourself to him. Besides, I know there's things you can do better than he can."

"It's kind of hard not to do comparisons when everyone is shoving it down my throat every other day! Oh, Feli's this oh, Feli's that! I'm sick of it! If they don't believe I have any talent or anything why don't they just tell me instead of comparing me to HIM!" Romano shouted, rattling the window's slightly.

Spain sat calmly during Romano's outburst. As soon as the Italian had finished shouting, he spoke again. "You do know Feli doesn't see you as anything less. Your his big brother, he looks up to you. Sure, he may not take after you or your tendencies, but he does look up to you."

Lovino slammed a fist against the table. "I know damn it. That's why I can't stop thinking about what I said. He makes it impossible to hate him I'll never understand it. It's not his fault that everyone thinks more highly of him than do of me. That's my fault, not his. But I blamed him for all of it."

Spain smiled slightly. "I'm proud of you. But the next question is, are you ready to talk to him about any of this?"

Romano shook his head. "I know I'll have to do it, but I'm not ready to face that bastard yet."

Spain nodded. "You just need some time apart. Come on. I have a fresh batch of tomatoes that aren't going to pick themselves." He smiled, standing up and heading for the back door.

Romano stared at the older man for a moment before following him out. "I haven't even been back two days and you're already putting me back to work! You bastard get back here!" He couldn't sound as angry as he wanted through the excitement of being able to eat tomatoes with Spain again.

The Spaniard laughed loudly as he took off in a run through his own tomato fields.

* * *

The duo returned to the house a couple of hours later, two full baskets of the fruits they had gone out to collect. They set the baskets on the counter-top to wait to be washed. They walked into the kitchen and each made their own lunch quickly. They watched a newscast while eating. As soon as he finished Romano went upstairs to take a shower.

He turned on the water and stepped inside, letting the water flow over his form. He thought about the conversation he and Spain had that morning and tried not to dwell on it. Before too long, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself before sliding on a black shirt and jeans.

Spain had offered to take them out to dinner tonight since they had both spent a majority of the day picking tomatoes so until they were ready to leave, they lounged around the house doing random tasks. When it was finally time to leave, they climbed into Spain's car and were off down the highway.


	3. Italy and Germany

Italy carefully opened his eyes, soaking in the warmth of the morning. He turned his head when he had noticed that the German he had climbed into bed with last night was not still there with him and sighed. He remembered the fight he had had with his brother and how he had run straight to Ludwig's house, not knowing where else to go. Germany had yelled at him at first for disturbing him at such a late hour, but agreed to let him stay after hearing what had happened.

Feliciano sighed once more and pulled himself out of bed. He walked to the next room over where Germany kept his spare clothes. After changing into a pair of jeans and t-shirt he started down the stairs, the smell of something cooking in the kitchen waking him up a bit. He trudged into the kitchen and stood still watching the German for a minute before announcing his arrival.

"Buongiorno Germany." He greeted solemnly.

The taller man turned around. "Good morning to you Italy. How did you sleep?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

The Italian simply shrugged. "I was up every so often but fine I suppose."

Germany sighed. "I know you're stressed but you also need to take care of yourself. I will let you out of training for today but if you are still staying here tomorrow you need to at least do your laps."

Italy nodded slowly in agreement as the taller man brought the meal over to the table and began eating. Feliciano only seemed to play with his food, moving it around the plate as if it was a toy you couldn't touch. Germany noticed this, knowing full well that the younger Italian sometimes lost his appetite when he was really upset. He let it slide this once, making sure that he would have the Italian eat later on, even if he had to feed it to him.

The day dragged on for a while, Germany did housework, trying not to add to Italy's stress and just let him keep the dogs entertained. Italy was grateful that his workload, if it could be called that, was rather simple. All he had to do was play with dogs and keep them entertained. That was pretty easy. Plus, the dogs helped to distract him. He knew he would have to apologize to his brother for what he said and for running away, but he knew Lovino wouldn't want to see him for a while. Feliciano honestly doubted his brother would want to see him before their birthday party, which was now less than a week away.

Every year the Italian brother duo had a birthday party together. One year they would have a small party, only inviting who they wanted and the next year they would have a huge party, inviting anyone they could think of whom they didn't both hate. This year was one of the latter. Everyone had already been invited and everything had been planned out, and now Italy sat alone with Germany's dogs, wondering if they were even going to have the party at this point.

"What would be the point? Roma is mad at me..he won't want to talk till after our birthday either. What am I supposed to do?" These thoughts repeated in his head for a while until Germany cleared his throat rather loudly, pulling Italy out of his thoughts. The German only stated his intent when Italy looked up at him.

"I need to go to the market, would you like to come with me and get out of the house for a while?" The German offered.

Italy thought the option over, he didn't like the slim chance of meeting his brother at the store, but he agreed anyhow and slid on his shoes. They both went out and climbed into Germany's car, arriving before long. They spent longer than they had anticipated at the store, trying to lighten the mood of the situation and just have fun together. Italy insisted they call Japan over and all go out to eat together like they had used to. After a while of convincing, Germany finally agreed to call the older nation as soon as they arrived home.

Italy skipped through the front door of Germany's house, swinging the bags he had carried wildly. Germany shouting at him all the while. Italy was quickly distracted by the dogs once more and, as soon as the groceries were away, Germany had called Japan, explaining the situation and where they were planning to eat. After agreeing that he could make it they hung up and Germany went to join the Italian who was currently be attacked with dog kisses.

Italy couldn't help but to laugh at the affection the dogs were showing him. He laid sprawled out on the floor, waving his hands around in a crazed manner, trying to get the dogs to stop for even a moment so he could catch his breath from all the laughing he had been doing.

Germany simply sat on the nearby couch, a small smile forming on his lips as he watched his dogs play with the other man. He let the Italian lay like that for a while before finally calling off the dog kisses onslaught and ordering the Italian to go get cleaned up before they had to leave. Italy nodded and stood up, quickly heading for the stairwell and doing as Germany instructed.

He cleaned his face of the dog slobber and changed into clothes that would be more fitting to be seen in at a restaurant before rejoining the German on the first floor. After they slid their shoes on they scanned the house to make sure everything had been turned off before heading out to Germany's car. They rode in silence together until the pulled up to the parking lot. Japan had arrived before them and was waiting for them outside. Italy's face had lit up upon seeing his friend and he waved happily through the car window.

After the car had been parked Feliciano quickly jumped out and dashed over to the Japanese man, quickly enveloping him in a hug. Kiku stood in shock for a moment before returning the affection carefully. After a few minor greetings, they all went inside together to eat and attempt to forget what was going on, if only for a few hours.


	4. Decisions Were Made

Italy awoke the next morning from the previous night he has spent with his friends. It had been late when they all finished their meals so Germany had offered that Japan stay with them that night. Japan agreed. Italy slipped out of bed and into a pair of sweats. He knew Germany would yell about doing his laps, and he wanted to be alone right now anyhow so why not just do them now?

Feliciano quietly slipped downstairs and out the door without a word, being sure to take his phone with him in case Germany called. He took a deep breath and started his jog to nowhere in particular. He dashed away from Ludwig's house and out around the local town. He kept his pace normal as he jogged around the outskirts of town, trying to get his thoughts in check. He knew he would have to apologize to Romano soon if he wanted any hope in them being able to have their parties together once again.

The Italian spotted a nearby bench and sat down to rest, pulling out his phone to check the time. Six thirty in the morning. Germany would probably be awake soon, if he wasn't already. This meant that Italy had a limited amount of time to head back if he didn't want to get yelled at for not mentioning he was going anywhere. He couldn't be brought to care, however.

"What am I going to do? I need to go apologize to Romano for the fight, even if he doesn't forgive me right away, I need to at least try." Italy frowned to himself, looking down at his hands.

"I'll go see him today. Then maybe he'll have some time to think all of this over." Feliciano declared to himself before getting up and jogging back in the direction of Germany's house

* * *

After arriving, the younger Italian took a deep breath and walked through the door, immediately spotting the angry German a few feet away. After explaining where he was before Germany even had a chance to yell, the taller man calmed down and informed him that Japan was preparing breakfast which would be ready shortly.

Italy nodded and went into the kitchen for a quick glass of water before going to shower and change.

"Good morning Japan." Italy smiled, sticking his head inside the fridge to reach a lone water bottle.

"Good morning to you Italy. It is good to see that you made it home safely." Japan answered, looking over at the other man. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get the water bottle at the back of the fridge. I'm parched." Italy replied, finally wrapping his hand around the object in question and pulling himself out of the cooler.

After downing half the bottle in one gulp, the Italian returned it to the refrigerator and headed upstairs to shower and change before joining his fellow Axis for breakfast.

As soon as breakfast was over Italy stood up.

"I'm going to go home today to apologize to Romano, whether he is ready to accept or not is his decision, but I need to at least need to let him know that I'm sorry." Italy stated his hands clenching into fists.

The other two stared at him for a moment before rising to their feet.

"Then we will be there for you. We're here to support you." Japan replied, a small smile on his face.

"I agree, but don't you think you should rest today? We were all up rather late last night and you were awake earlier than any of us this morning. Relax today, we can go talk to Romano in the morning." Germany added.

Italy looked between his friends before pulling them both into a hug. Everything may not be okay, but at least he had his best friends by his side.

* * *

Miles away, Romano sat in Spain's living room, waiting for the older man to finish washing the dishes from breakfast. They were supposed to be heading to the store today and Spain was taking an annoyingly long amount of time finishing the dishes. It was starting to piss Romano off. Eventually, Spain did finish and walked into the room and wiped his hands on his pants to remove the last bit of water from his hands.

"It's about time you finished you bastard!" Romano complained, standing up and heading to put his shoes on.

Spain only laughed and followed the Italian's lead. Once their shoes were on, they went out to Spain's car and climbed inside to head to the store.


	5. An Apology

Italy unlocked the door to his and Romano's shared house the following morning. What shocked him, however, is the fact that no one was there. The three Axis searched high and low throughout the entire house, with Romano nowhere in sight. Italy sighed.

"He must have left to stay with Spain. I didn't think he would go back so soon, though. He just got back from Spain's house the day before the fight. I thought for sure he would be here." Feliciano stared at the mess in the kitchen that Lovino must have left there after he had already left.

Japan walked up to his companion. "Then we will go see Mr. Spain and see if your brother is there. There is no point in us coming this far only to get nowhere." He paused and looked to Germany. "What do you think?"

Italy lifted his head to look at the German as well, worry written all over his face.

Ludwig looked back and forth between his two companions, he didn't have much of a choice either way, and this was for Italy, "Alright. What are we waiting for?"

Italy jumped into the air, clapping rather loudly and shouting. Japan could not stop the smile that rose to his lips, and neither could Germany. After talking for a while, they came to the conclusion that it was starting to get late in the morning and decided to remain there for lunch. Italy smiled and immediately started cooking while Germany cleaned up the mess on the floor.

By the time Germany had finished, Italy had as well and they set the table. The trio sat and ate together. They were enjoying themselves until they heard a car door slam outside, and someone screaming rather loudly. This made them all look up from their meal and towards the entrance way.

Romano nearly tore the door off it's hinges while walking through it, cussing at Spain all the way, the latter following just behind him. Italy dropped his fork in the shock and the noise caused both Romano and Spain to look over and notice the trio. Romano's face paled almost instantly upon seeing his brother in the house again.

The deathly quiet in the house was unnerving. Italy stood, being the first to break the silence.

"Well, it looks we don't have to go to Spain after all, guys!" He smiled, looking at his friends before looking up at his brother. "Now that you're here, there's something I'd like to say to you. Whether you're ready to face me just yet or not." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry about the things I said the other night. It was wrong of me to accuse you of things and to say the things I said and...I'm sorry Romano."

Romano was practically frozen in his spot, his mouth hung open. He hadn't expected to meet his brother here and he certainly didn't expect an apology from him. He knew his brother to be very forgiving, but Romano didn't believe he deserved an apology, not yet anyway.

Spain smiled and answered for Romano. "It's nice to see you again, Romano just wanted some extra clothes. We'll get them and be on our way. Thank you for your apology." He nodded and led the older Italian upstairs.

Italy blinked and sat back down, slow beginning to eat again.

"I'm very proud of you Italy." Ludwig stated, trying to break the silence that hung in the air.

Japan nodded with him. Italy looked up. "I'm glad he knows how I feel, I just hope he can accept the apology and we can still have our party on Thursday. And if we can't, then I'll at least be there to celebrate, though I'd prefer to spend our birthday together, if he doesn't want to see me he doesn't have to." Italy replied, finishing his meal and taking his plate to the sink.

The other Axis followed his lead, Italy washed the dishes while the other two relaxed in the living room. Spain and Romano returned downstairs shortly after, Romano went straight for the door, Antonio shouted that he would be out shortly. The Spaniard walked over to Ludwig and Kiku and sat down beside them.

"I don't have a lot of time before Roma starts screaming at me to hurry up, but how is little Italy holding up?" Antonio asked, concern in his voice.

"He's doing a lot better after he apologized I think. He cares about Romano and just wants them to be able to spend their birthday together." Germany answered.

Spain nodded. "Alright thank you. I'll call the next time we need anything from here or if there is any serious change with Romano that you should know about. Can you please do the same and call me if something happens with Italy?" The duo nodded and Spain thanked them before heading out the door as quickly as possible.

Italy walked into the living room shortly after and joined them in watching TV, falling asleep not long after he had sat down, head draped on Japan's shoulder.

They remained like that for a while, contemplating on what to do next.

But knowing that Italy was a bit more relaxed already had their minds more at ease.


	6. Time Running Out

It had been three days since Italy had given his apology to Romano and still has not heard from his brother. Feliciano sighed, the party was tomorrow.

"What am I going to do? What else can I do? If he hasn't apologized yet, I doubt he will until next week, and by then it will be too late." Italy sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He had gone out early yet again to get his laps done before Germany woke up and had a chance to yell at him.

He had been doing that since the day he apologized. They all decided to stay at the shared house in Rome until the day of the party. That meant less travel to do later, and the Axis kept extra clothes there in case of an emergency so they were set to go!

Italy sighed and stood up from his bench and started the jog back to his house. He walked through the front door and headed straight for the bathroom to shower. Germany woke up shortly after Italy returned home and started breakfast. Japan awoke shortly after him and quickly changed and got ready for the day before he went downstairs to join Germany.

Italy joined them shortly after and ate in silence. He had been eating like that since he apologized and wasn't sure what to say anymore. Germany and Japan looked at each other silently before finishing their own meals. Gilbert was coming over today to help them set up for the party.

Italy stayed in the house a majority of the time. He didn't even say anything to Prussia when he arrived. It only made the trio worry more about his state. After they had the tables and chairs set up, Germany and Japan decided that they should all call Spain to ask how Romano was holding up.

After three rings, the Spaniard finally answered the phone.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"It's Germany. How is Romano holding up?" He asked quickly, getting straight to the point.

"Uhhhh, he's been better. He's asleep right now, but he's been eating less and talking less and he's not even calling me a jerk bastard anymore! I don't know what to do." Spain replied, keeping his voice hushed so as to not wake his sleeping Italian.

"Italy has become the same way. Listen, bring Romano to the party tomorrow, trick him if you have to. It's not very nice but at this point, those two need to make up before they get sick or worse." Germany ordered, hoping his plan would work.

Spain nodded in reply, "I understand, I'll bring him with me. Tell little Italy I said hello for me okay? Goodbye."

Germany ended the call quickly and pocketed his phone. "We're going to get those two to make up if it's the last thing they say to each other."

Japan and Prussia nodded to each other and Germany smiled.

* * *

The three of them spent the rest of the day keeping Italy as pre-occupied as possible. They played with the dogs, they watched tv, Prussia even offered to try and learn how to draw from him.

While Spain, on the other hand, was having an extremely hard time keeping Romano occupied. He couldn't get the older Italian to speak with him, let alone yelling or smiling. It was impossible to get him to smile to begin with but this was just ridiculous!

"What am I supposed to do now?" He asked himself. He was sitting in the living room alone as Romano had gone up to take a shower. "It's going to be impossible to get him to go to that party tomorrow."

Antonio sighed and stood up, walking to the kitchen to start supper. "I know he doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to face Feliciano yet, but he doesn't have a lot of time anymore. The party is tomorrow and everyone is expecting him to be there. Italy just wants to spend his birthday with his big brother, but, I don't think his wish will be granted this year." Spain looked up and picked up his phone to send a text to Germany.

Germany looked at his phone and sighed, pocketing it before heading upstairs. _Spain hadn't had any luck with Romano either, what are we going to do?_ The party was the next day, countries from all over the world would be showing up early to greet the Italian brother duo, what were they going to say when Romano wasn't there? What would Italy tell them? What would Germany say if Spain actually did get Romano to come? Ludwig wasn't sure, but one thing he did know.

Tomorrow was going to be a day to remember.


	7. Things Left Unsaid

Italy hadn't been awake for very long when some countries started coming in early. The only ones who were allowed to arrive this early would be ones that were very close to one or both of the Italy brothers somehow. This included Austria and Hungary and would have included Spain had he not been taking care of Romano at this very moment.

Feliciano sighed, he figured that if Romano was going to show up at all, it wouldn't be at the start of the party. The younger Italian greeted the guests as they arrived politely and pointed out where they could put gifts and where the food was in case they got hungry. Most people were simply coming in through the gate along the side of the house since the party was being held outside. It really wasn't anything much, but their parties never really tended to be. It was the people and what happened at the parties that tended to make the Italy brothers birthdays memorable to everyone.

Italy, who would usually be the happiest one at the party, mainly kept to himself. He did happily greet everyone like he had before and he didn't talk to anyone unless they had been the first to speak. Prussia kept a close eye on him while Germany and Japan tended to the party. Normally Italy and Romano would have done that themselves, but with Romano still missing and Italy being in the state he was in, that really was not going to happen.

An hour passed. Then two hours. Normally their parties lasted all day and with everyone actually getting a chance to see each other aside from work where they could last, no one really wanted to go home. Though a sense of awkwardness hung in the air. It was beginning to near the time where they would cut the cake and start opening gifts. Feliciano sighed for what must have been the millionth time that day.

"I guess I'll be cutting the cake by myself this year." He said in a whisper. No one heard him, no one had even seemed to notice.

Another half hour went by with no sign of Romano. Germany sighed. He and Japan would be bringing out the cake any minute now. He knew Spain would have trouble getting the older Italian to come, but he honestly thought that it would have worked. Ludwig passed a hand over his face and joined Japan in the kitchen. _It's now or never Antonio, don't let us down._

* * *

Antonio could have sworn his eye twitched as he drove up the street, speeding as he went. It had taken everything in his power just to get Romano in the car. It must have worn the Italian out, however, five minutes into the drive he was out like a light. Spain had been driving for hours. After getting himself and Romano up at an ungodly hour of the morning, and spending nearly an hour getting Lovino in the car, he sped up the highway on the way to the house in Rome.

They were nearly there by this point, and it was starting to near early afternoon. Antonio bit his lip, it was only five minutes away, but Feliciano would probably be cutting the cake any minute now, if he hadn't already that is. Antonio turned the corner right as Romano woke up and asked where they were. When he saw his house, however, he wasn't exactly pleased. Spain quickly parked and put the car in park. He threw his door open and nearly stormed to the other side of the car. He threw Lovino's door open as well. The once happy Antonio was replaced with one that was incredibly irritated. Lovino knew not to push his luck. When Antonio got pissed, terrifying things happened and Romano did not want to witness that horror right before he had to walk into the party.

Romano sighed and pulled himself out of the car before following Spain up to the gate to their backyard. He took another deep breath before Spain entered and he would have to move once more. Antonio gasped however when he saw Ludwig and Kiku set the cake down, his reflexes kicking in, he quickly grabbed Lovino's collar and tossed him forward through the gate, screaming as he went.

"Hola amigos!" Spain shouted, following a stumbling Romano through the gate door.

"Damn it you bastard that hurt! What the hell was that for?!" Romano glared up at Antonio from the ground where he had landed.

Their commotion had come to the attention of everyone at the party. Feliciano had frozen in his place when he heard a slam and saw his brother fall through the gate. He gasped, dropping his knife as his brother turned around to face him.

Romano's eyes went wide. He really didn't want this amount of attention right now. He wanted to curl up and hide, but that wasn't going to happen. He needed to act quickly if he wanted the awkwardness to end as fast as possible.

"Are you cutting the cake without me you bastard?!" Romano shouted, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Italy was too frozen to even think of an answer. His brother was here, and TALKING to him no less. The older Italian walked up to Italy, who was standing on the opposite side of the table. They simply stared at each other for a minute before Romano opened his mouth to speak.

"Look. You may be the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met. You cry all the time, everyone is always paying attention to you, and Grandpa may have spent more time with you than he did with me. But, you are my brother. You're always going to be my brother. I think it's high time I realized that maybe I should start treating you like one instead of a punching bag like everyone else tends to do." Romano swallowed, "I guess, I'm sorry you bastard!"

The older Italian was nearly in tears by this point, Feliciano, on the other hand, was bawling. Letting the sobs come from his mouth without even bothering trying to stop them. The duo hugged each other, letting the tears fall and everyone applauded loudly, cheering as they did. Once they pulled apart, Germany handed them each a box of tissues and Antonio told Romano how proud he was that he could do that.

After everyone had calmed down they cut the cake and opened their gifts and the party turned into the normal chaos it normally was on this day.

* * *

That night, Italy, Romano, Germany, Japan, and Spain, sat on the floor of the living room inside the house. After everyone left they had cleaned up the party and become exhausted in the process, Italy and Romano having cleaned up the most, were currently curled up beside each other and asleep, their heads resting against each other. The trio left awake smiled and helped them move into a more comfortable position so they wouldn't be in too much pain this morning before they headed upstairs to the guest rooms.

Neither brother had a problem sleeping that night.


End file.
